Hypoglycemic attack or something else?

[Montag1138]

A week and a half ago, I had an incident. My doctor is waiting until I see a cardiologist and have blood work done to offer any theories. I'm not looking for a diagnosis, but it will be a month before I see her again and I can't just sit around wondering. I'm hoping my symptoms might sound familiar, or are clearly something else. Sorry this is so long! I tried to give just the essential details.

I'm 48, slightly overweight with hypertension, and I've been told I'm pre-diabetes for several years. Since COVID started, my wife and I have been very sedentary.

Friday 8/13 I had a small breakfast at 9:30. I was extra busy with online work, and just didn't take time to eat. At 8pm I grabbed a fruit ***** mini pack, and went to the kitchen to make dinner. About 15 minutes later suddenly my arms felt very weak, and I told my wife I needed to sit down. I drank a few sips of soda for some quick energy. Maybe 8 minutes passed and suddenly my vision started to fade. I felt like I wasn't getting enough oxygen and had the sensation of pins and needles in my brain. I began breathing fast and hard and my wife called EMS. I stood up to try to shake it off but it didn't help, so I laid down on the couch. I had dripping sweat on the back of my neck. I could hear clearly but my vision was grey, and I felt nauseous and too weak to talk. My wife says that she shook me and I was unresponsive, which of course I don't recall. I know she sat next to me, but I didn't notice any missing time. My breathing was returning to normal, so I sat up feeling very tired and heavy. My mouth was so dry it was hard to talk. EMS arrived and said that my blood oxygen level was fine, my heart and lungs sounded fine, and they did a stroke test and determined that it probably wasn't a stroke. They offered to take me to the hospital for observation, but I declined because I felt much better, and because here in the US medical emergencies are financially devastating.

Again I'm not looking for a diagnosis, just hoping the forum will read this and can say "classic symptoms" or "no way that's hypoglycemia". Thanks for your patience and indulgence.

 

[ert]

There isn't enough information to say without a blood glucose monitor's results. And we can't diagnose.
Insulin and sulfonylureas have the side effects of hypoglycemia where you lose your homeostasis and your blood sugars can go below 3.5 mmol/l. Are you taking either of these medications?
You can experience a 'false hypo' where you get symptoms of hypoglycemia if you have had high blood sugars for an extended period of time and your blood sugars return to a normal range.
There are possible causes of hypoglycemia without a diabetes cause: https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/hypoglycemia/symptoms-causes/syc-20373685
Otherwise, it's not hypoglycemia and the symptoms are another cause.

I hope your specialist gets to the bottom of your symptoms soon.

 

[Oldvatr]

One possibility is a TIA. I had these for a while where I felt dizzy, and my vision went monochrome, or sometimes like an overexposed film where the brightness control goes wonky. It would clear after about 20 - 30 mins, and I would recover. I did not at that time get much numbness or stiffness. so did not think it was a stroke.

A while later, I got the real thing, and it was obvious what it was. I was driving on the motorway at the time, and I had enough control on the unaffected side to get to the hospital where I was admitted and treated for a stroke. So I was totally compos mentis at the time, but slightly paralysed on one side with the stroke, but the TIA's I had were a warning sign I should have taken note of. I have had hypo's too since, but they are nothing like the TIA, but I do get a distinctive vision problem with a hypo, which is tunnel vision and washed out colours, so it is clear my brain is being affected similarly to the TIA. I have never had a deep hypo where I become incommunicado or unresponsive, so I cannot comment. But a deep hypo normally requires severe medication issues. So are you taking any medication?